ObamaTrade Will Cost 448,000 American Jobs, New Study Finds

One of the major purported selling points for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a supposed increase in new jobs as a result of the controversial trade deal. The deal involves 12 nations, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia and more. However, two recent economic reports have contradicted the claims that jobs will increase. They have shown that, more than likely, the deal will lead to a loss of jobs.

First there was a World Bank report that predicted that TPP would produce negligible boosts to the economies of the U.S., Australia, and Canada. TechDirt writes:

“So according to the World Bank’s figures, the U.S. will gain an extra 0.04% GDP per year on average, as a result of TPP; Australia an extra 0.07% annually, and Canada a boost of 0.12% per year.”

This study was followed up by a review from Jerome Capaldo and Alex Izurieta at Tufts University. In a study titled “Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement,” Capaldo and Izurieta claim their study uses a more realistic model than past analyses. Specifically, the researchers state that their model incorporates effects on employment that were previously excluded from TPP calculations.

Their study found that economic growth is likely to be limited — and negative — for some countries, including the United States. The researchers also found the TPP would probably lead to increased unemployment and inequality. Capaldo and Izurieta explained:

“The standard model assumes full employment and invariant income distribution, ruling out the main risks of trade and financial liberalization. Subject to these assumptions, it finds positive effects on growth. An important question, therefore, is how this conclusion changes if those assumptions are dropped.”

In the paper, the two researchers state that changes in GDP growth are “mostly projected to be negligible.” After using two sets of growth figures, ten-year measurements, and annual averages, they concluded the TPP “appears to only marginally change competitiveness among participating countries. Most gains are therefore obtained at the expense of non-TPP countries.”

The fact that any gains — however negligible — will come at the cost of non-TPP countries should be a warning to all nations of the world, especially those who do not stand to benefit from the agreement. Concerning predictions of actual job losses or gains, the researchers write, “TPP would lead to employment losses in all countries, with a total of 771,000 lost jobs. The United States would be the hardest hit, with a loss of 448,000 jobs.”

Finally, the researchers draw harrowing conclusions about the end result of the TPP.

“Globally, the TPP favors competition on labor costs and remuneration of capital. Depending on the policy choices in non-TPP countries, this may accelerate the global race to the bottom, increasing downward pressure on labor incomes in a quest for ever more elusive trade gains.”

This latest analysis of TPP job claims is even more dismal than a February 2015 analysis by the Washington Post, which revealed the U.S. government’s numbers on expected job increases from the TPP are not factually correct. The Post’s Fact Checker examined several quotes from government officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Both Kerry and Vilsack claimed the international trade agreement would create 650,000 new jobs. However, these numbers do not take into account income gains and changing wages. According to the government’s own sources, imports and exports would increase by the same amount — resulting in a net number of zero new jobs.

The TPP has faced criticism for several years, not least because it has been negotiated in secret with overwhelming influence from multinational corporations. In late June 2015, President Obama signed into law the so-called “fast-track” bill, which set the stage for approval of the TPP. “Fast-track” limits Congress’ ability to alter the provisions of the trade deal, and only allows a vote of yes or no. The final terms of the deal were agreed upon in October 2015, and the full text of the agreement was released in November. The earliest Obama can sign the deal is February 4, 2016.

Following the release of the text of the TPP, journalist James Corbett released an excellent report examining the effects of the proposal. Corbett concludes that the most egregious portions relate to the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Mechanism, intellectual property, and food safety standards.

According to the report, ISDS will give corporations loopholes to escape accountability and empower international bodies, overriding the national sovereignty of signing nations. Under ISDS, foreign corporations would be allowed to appeal legal decisions to international tribunals, rather than face domestic courts. Critics fear this could lead to a loss of sovereignty and the enrichment of transnational corporations.

In late 2015, Anti-Media reported the TPP might not be voted on until after the 2016 presidential elections, or possibly into the next presidential term, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In an interview with the Washington Post, McConnell said he does not support the idea of voting on the TPP before the election. “It certainly shouldn’t come before the election. I don’t think so, and I have some serious problems with what I think it is,” he said. “But I think the president would be making a big mistake to try to have that voted on during the election. There’s significant pushback all over the place.”

“We will continue working with Congressional leaders to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership as soon as possible next year,” Brandi Hoffine, a White House spokeswoman, told the Post on Thursday. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters, “Our view is that it is possible for Congress to carefully consider the details of this agreement and to review all the benefits associated with this agreement … without kicking the vote all the way to the lame-duck period.”

Recently, the Electronic Frontier Foundation also released a report on the dangers of the TPP. EFF writes:

“Everything in the TPP that increases corporate rights and interests is binding, whereas every provision that is meant to protect the public interest is non-binding and is susceptible to get bulldozed by efforts to protect corporations.”

The EFF’s report offers “a list of communities who were excluded from the TPP deliberation process,” and examples of “the main ways that the TPP’s copyright and digital policy provisions will negatively impact them.”

These communities include Innovators and Business Owners; Libraries, Archives, and Museums; Students; Impacts on Online Privacy and Digital Security; Website Owners; Gamers; Artists; Journalists and Whistleblowers; Tinkerers and Repairers; Free Software; and Cosplayers and Fans of Anime, Cartoons, or Movies.

The TPP is not only facing resistance from electronic privacy groups, but from grassroots activists and concerned professionals around the world. Both the Anglican and Catholic churches of New Zealand have demanded governments be more transparent about the negotiations. Radio NZ reports that bishops from the churches are concerned with the lack of openness. They are worried corporate interests are influencing the agreement while the people are excluded. The churches also called on the New Zealand government to make the draft text of the agreement public.

“Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) expresses its dismay that TPP countries have agreed to United States government and multinational drug company demands that will raise the price of medicines for millions by unnecessarily extending monopolies and further delaying price-lowering generic competition. The big losers in the TPP are patients and treatment providers in developing countries. Although the text has improved over the initial demands, the TPP will still go down in history as the worst trade agreement for access to medicines in developing countries, which will be forced to change their laws to incorporate abusive intellectual property protections for pharmaceutical companies.”

In early February 2015, doctors and health professionals representing seven countries released a letter warning the TPP will lead to higher medical costs for all nations. The letter, published in the Lancet Medical Journal, states, “Rising medicine costs would disproportionately affect already vulnerable populations.” Those doctors called on the governments involved in the trade deal to publicly release the full text of the agreement. They also demanded an independent analysis of the effects on health and human rights for each nation involved in the deal.

Speaking of treason, 200 FBI vehicles have descended upon the standoff in Burns, Oregon. Remember, these protesters are NOT anti-government but rather pro-constitution. If this goes Waco....https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b2NWx4P8rzY

The brain-dead progressives and FSA soldiers are too far gone yes, but there are exponentially increasing numbers of average Americans who are realizing something is terribly wrong. The American Revolution began with only 3% standing up and saying, "fuck you, George!!!". So it will be again. None of us has ten years to wait, the tipping point is coming this year. TPP is a perfect example of why these fucks must be stopped and now.

Clinton Foundation took massive payoffs, promised Hammond Ranch and other publicly owned lands to Russian’s along with one-fifth of our uranium ore
Whore of Babylon shreds Constitution, exposed as ultimate backer of massive U.S. land grab
By Shepard Ambellas

PRINCETON, Ore. (INTELLIHUB) — As it turns out there’s a lot more to the story behind the Malheur Wildlife Refuge–a whole lot more–and this article is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

As you may or may not know, Intellihub reported on Jan. 4, that the Hammond’s ranch and other ranch-lands surrounding the refuge sit atop a vast swath of precious metals, minerals, and uranium that’s heavily desired by not only the federal government, but foreign entities as well.

However, at the time of the article’s publication the federal government’s full motive to seize the land was not yet known other than the fact that these elements do exist in the vicinity and are invaluable.

Now, after further investigation, more pieces of the puzzle have been put in place and you’re not going to believe what characters are involved.

I’ll give you a hint–one of them is currently being investigated by the FBI and is also running on the Democratic ticket in hopes of becoming the next President of the United States. That’s right, you guessed it–none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton of the notorious Clinton crime family.

Hillary and her foundation are implicated in the dastardly scheme along with the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation, Rosatom, and a few dubious Canadian elite, which is where the news gets really bad.

Rosatom is ranked #2 globally in uranium reserves and #1 globally for annual uranium extraction. The sheer power, strength, and size of the corporation is undeniable. Rostom is a major power-player in today’s world and didn’t become that way for no reason.

You see, Rosatom wanted to expand their operations into America and needed a way in. So, in 2013, Rosatom acquired a Canadian company named Uranium One as part of a sinister side deal which involved multiple parties. Ultimately the deal opened a typically secure and closed-door, thus allowing the Russian’s to salt their way into Continental United States as part of a vast and extensive plan to mine Uranium ore out of states like Wyoming and Oregon.

The deal was essentially brokered by Hillary and was ran through the Clinton Foundation using Canadian-backed contributions as a cover. With one swoop of a pen the bitch sold out the American people and one-fifth of America’s uranium resources to the Russian’s.

In April of 2015, two reporters for the New York Times boldly reported how the plan worked:

At the heart of the tale are several men, leaders of the Canadian mining industry, who have been major donors to the charitable endeavors of former President Bill Clinton and his family. Members of that group built, financed and eventually sold off to the Russians a company that would become known as Uranium One.

Beyond mines in Kazakhstan that are among the most lucrative in the world, the sale gave the Russians control of one-fifth of all uranium production capacity in the United States. Since uranium is considered a strategic asset, with implications for national security, the deal had to be approved by a committee composed of representatives from a number of United States government agencies. Among the agencies that eventually signed off was the State Department, then headed by Mr. Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton"

The illegal Indonesian kenyan alien muslim fudgepacker continuing in its successful drive to destroy Amerika & the middle class. The traitorous turd who has repeatedly violated the oath of office it took needs its skin sandpapered off buried in salt then thrown out in the middle of an Iranian desert with a can of Pennzoil.

He gets his orders at his first meeting 11 a.m. every day along with arch zionist Joe Biden, D.C. habitue and money whore, and he spends more time on golf courses than in national security briefings. Yet you think he makes policy or even understands it.

Ridiculous.

November 22, 1963 was a coup d'etat. Get your head around that one, munchkin. Emergency powers for the hidden .gov exist since 9/11. That is their law. Fact.

Do you think so much could be imposed upon the USA and the world otherwise?

30 years ago, there was a garment industry in New York City that employed some 250,000 workers. There were sewing machine operators, cutters, truck drivers, sample makers, showroom employees, jobbers, and the list of jobs goes on. Between NAFTA, outsourcing of jobs to sweatshops in the Caribbean and factory space being converted to office space (and later, to residential space as loft apartments), almost all those garment industry manufacturing jobs vanished. The garment workers' union, then the ILGWU, had a clause in its contract requiring payment of "liquidated damages" to the union before a firm could abruptly shut down and buy its goods overseas. Once the ILGWU got its payoff, goodbye garment industry.

Once TPP is in force, you can kiss goodbye most American manufacturing jobs, computer technology jobs and and any other job that can be done a lot cheaper overseas, even if the quality is subpar. Welcome to the New World Order, peasants.

Why would anyone believe that a complicated, secret trade agreement was crafted to benefit American Citizens at the expense of bankers?

Let’s be clear: the TPP is much more than a “free trade” agreement. It is part of a global race to the bottom to boost the profits of large corporations and Wall Street by outsourcing jobs; undercutting worker rights; dismantling labor, environmental, health, food safety and financial laws; and allowing corporations to challenge our laws in international tribunals rather than our own court system. If TPP was such a good deal for America, the administration should have the courage to show the American people exactly what is in this deal, instead of keeping the content of the TPP a secret

TPP is the biggest betrayal of the entire world, all for the corporatists. It is not capitalism. It is not socialism. It is the new feudalism, and that is why its makers kept it secret, all the better to steal, like any crime syndicate. Any Western politician who voted for it has committed treason of the highest order. The rest of the world is accustomed to low wage slavery or worse, so it's no surprise that they are unaware or approve of it.

People should read the words of the Trilateral Commission, and see its intention to bring all down to the lowest cost base. They say it is fair. I say it is fraud.

I don't own slaves. I dislike slavery. Now you do if you accept this slave master secret deal, the TPP, without complaint.

In my 52 years of experience, I have noticed a near political law in which if the government says something will cost X jobs or X amount of money at a MINIMUM multiply that number by a factor of 2. In most case 3 times is more appropriate....sometimes 4.

So with that in mind.....TPP will cost at a MINIMUM 869,000 jobs and more probably 1,344,000 jobs and possibly up to 1,792,000 jobs.

But that's ok.....we'll make that up with 5,000,000 more illegal aliens. So, it's all good.

I think I hear that "Giant Sucking Sound" that Ross Perot heard right before NAFTA was passed.

I think they're off by 400%. But there are a whole lot of people out there in the US who STILL do not have a clue about it.... but they wonder why their kids are 29 years old and still living at home with a college degree working at walmart (if they're 'lucky')

trump would roll it back if he could but he wouldn't because there is no exit clause.There are lots of words on paper and no exit clause. Oh noes! the catastrophe. Look, there's nothing can be done, see? it's right there, written on paper. Ink is dry. Nothing can be done, ever. Oh woe, the paper, the ink, it's unchangeable. Look at President Trump, he's doing a shruggy thing with his shoulders with his hands out.

Irrelevant. First it hasn't got past the senate yet (nor should it), so it is no more than a piece of paper "negotiated" by Obama but with no treaty obligations on the US.

Even if it does pass the Senate and formally becomes a treaty, history is full of nations repudiating treaties when they felt like it, provided they were strong enough. If the US decides to tear up TPP or NAFTA or any other treaty, no one is going to be strong enough to do anything about it.

I'm not speaking in favor of TPP, which is an appalling piece of work. But it will apply only until a US government says scrap it.